Last night at the HERRNSTEIN FIELD at THE OBADIAH HARRIS FAMILY SPORTS COMPLEX, the #8 seed Grandview Heights Bobcats did battle with the #1 seed Paint Valley. Both teams had displayed during the regular season, that they both could put up points and chew up yards at a high rate.
The Bearcats from Paint Valley had four games where they had scored over forty points, with the most coming in week two, where they put up Fifty seven points. The Bobcats from Grandview heights had four games, where they were over forty points, with a season high of seventy points being scored in week three.

This game unofficially ended with 856 yards and 75 points. Both teams exploded in the first half, with Paint Valley totaling 330 yards, while the Bobcats put up 222 yards. For the Bearcats, it was an three headed monster chewing up yards on the ground and for the Bobcats it was more of a two headed monster picking up yards via the pass.

This one started out with a sack being recorded by Paint Valley, just seventeen seconds into the game, when Brayden Ison exploded into the Bobcats backfield to bring down Kyle Casey for a six yard loss. Casey goes 6-3 185 pounds, while Ison is 5-11 180 pounds. The bigger quarterback stood no chance of escaping, as he went down like Liston did against Ali, way back when.

When the Bearcats got the ball, they slowly started moving the ball downfield and at the 9:05 mark,they faced a third and long. Bryce Newland would drop back to pass and throw a nice ball to Elijah Tacket, who not only caught the ball, but held on after a late hit on the Bobcats. The twelve play, seventy seven drive ended at the 6:27 mark, when Lane Mettler met the end zone,with the aid of his front line. The point after kick from Caden Grubb was blocked by Trey Cook. The point after kick has been an uphill battle all year for the Bearcats.

The Bobcats would get a thirty one yard completion from Casey to Luke Lachey, at the 5:38 mark. Lachey is the son of former Ohio State Buckeye star and former NFL player, Jim Lachey. The kid has hands like Jerry Rice and a stride of a former track star and Oakland Raider,Willie Gault. From there Casey would run, a sweet quarterback draw for a twenty yard Bobcat touchdown. The point after kick from Hallie Gedrskey was perfect, making this a 7-6 Bobcats lead.

The Bearcats would run a screen pass that looked ready to go for a long gain, as it was set up well but the pass from Newland was batted out of the air by Cody Cook. The Bearcats would pick up the first down and then survive a fifteen yard touchdown run by Brayden Ison.when a hold and a block in the back was called on them. It would take six seconds of the second quarter before the Bearcats would put the touchdown on the board. The score came on a ten yard pass from Newland to Macky McDonald to make this a 14-6 game. A to point conversion run by Ison was thwarted by the Bobcats. The Bearcats drive lasted for fifteen plays and covered sixty nine tough yards.

The Bear cats used a thirty yard run from Iann Cockerell to set up a thirty yard touchdown run from Lane Mettler, at the 8:32 mark and then a two point conversion run from Newland made this a 20-7 game. Newland is a big 6-4,210 junior,who when he wants runs a lot like John Riggins. The drive was very impressive,it totaled ninety nine yards and took nine plays.

The Bobcats would not back down and their next drive would show just how much fight they had left in them. A twenty eight yard catch from Lachey was followed up with a twenty five yard run from the slippery,Nico Card set up a seventeen yard touchdown pass,on fourth and seven to Lachey,who was wide open. The point after kick was successful,making this a 20-14 game with 5:43 left in the half. The drive took eight plays and totaled ninety three yards.

The Bearcats would need just four plays to score again, this time it was a fifty yard run by the fleet footed,Ison. Ison showed a gear that I did not know he possessed , as he easily outran the defense for the score. Another two point conversion run was stuffed by the Bobcats to keep this a 26-14 game.

The last 2:45 seconds of the half was jammed full of excitement. It started with a fifty four yard run from, the beast know as Harrison Morosky to the Paint Valley nine yard line. The Bobcats would get on the board again,with a fourteen yard run from Darrion Davis . The point after kick made this a 26-21 game.

Defense would show some life by both teams next. First it was a interception by Lachey to get the ball back to the Bobcats. Then the Bearcats would get a sack from the combo of Justin Draise and Cody Stevenson.

The Bearcats picked up a fourth and one, when Newland used his big body to pick up the first down, that would set up a forty one yard run from Ison. The point after kick from Grubb would make this a 33-21 game, with 8:53 left in the third. The drive went for eight plays and totaled seventy eight yards.

The Bobcats would go to the air to strike back. First a twenty one yard hook up, from Casey to Charlie James , then a twenty two yard touchdown pass to Lachey,the point after kick would make this a 33-28 game,with 6:56 left in the quarter.The Bobcats drive lasted for five plays and went for fifty yards.

The Bearcats got a powerful run from Ison to go up 39-28, with 11:27 left in the contest.
The Bearcats defense got a huge play at the 10:56 mark of the quarter, when Hunter Gibson caught a tipped ball for a interception.
The Bobcats defense would show up and hold the Bearcats scoreless on the ensuing drive and then watched its offense go back to work.

The offense would slowly work itself from their own twenty to the end zone, taking twelve plays to do so, The scoring play came on a four yard run from Morosky. The Bobcats then added two points on a Morosky run, to make this a 39-36 game, with 5;20 left in the game.

I set in the press box on the Grandview side and at the 2:05 mark the crowd went ballistic when the Bearcats snap to Ison on a punt was low and mishandled causing him to take off downfield, on the opposite side of the field.Iann Cockrell was stopped short of the first down, but a flag was thrown with face mask being the call against the defense. The call was spot on as a picture in the Chillicothe Gazette captured the play as it happened. The paper is a pay to view one, so if you like to see it, you need to use a free proxy server to see the great shot.

The Bearcats would run the clock out and set off a nice celebration from their fans and themselves.
This was game sixty seven for me this year and it goes down as the 2nd best game of the year.